Terrible news for hackey, but most of all for his family. We listen to the media and we find out he was a great kid, which makes it even worse.

But this has to generate a positive result on the prevention side. We seem to see this happens a little more often in the past years. I remember a few young football players that dies of such collapses. It really surprises me considering all the medical attention these guys are getting. Are sports reaching such high level of intensity that the body sometimes can’t follow? You would think one of the top hockey prospects has been medically tested inside-out to identify any weakness to the hearth.

Words cannot describe how I feel.
My condolences to the Cherepanov family and friends in Russia and to the Rangers organization.
Life is too short and too lose a very young man whose goal was to play for New York and in the NHL, it is very tragic.

still remember when they interviewed him during the draft and they asked him through an interpreter if the reason he dropped so low was b/c of the russian transfer agreement… his response was about a minute long(in russian) then his translator summed it up saying “yes”
very unfortunate and sad times for his family and friends, so much potential in this kids career, already had 12 pts in 14 games in the kontinental league

Terrible. I totally remember this guy. I was anxiously awaiting his arrival in the NHL. He was gonna be quite special.

on 100% they actually showed photage. Apparently he was talking with Jaromir Jagr after he just missed a great opporunity to score. Jagr was telling him that he can’t miss this type of opportunities…all of a sudden he collapsed. It was terrible..They showed him being carried …they look confused…Jagr was there…what a mess.

Anyway just wanted to add that I am pretty sure the molecular genetics of this disease have been mapped, and it is my personal opinion that pro athletes ought to be subjected to a genetic screen at the very start of their career to identify these sorts of problems earlier. It would only be a matter of a blood test, and would be an excellent use of the millions of dollars in revenue. It would also save precious young lives.

Sad. As a Russian, these situations are all to familiar in Russia. I am not surprised the ambulance left before the game was over. I am not surprised the defibrillators were not functioning properly.
There is no guarantee it would have save Alex, but how could they look in his parents eyes now?!
The league based on money and nothing else – if properly done, things like that are the important ones and not how big the arena is or how big the salary is.
My heart goes to his family as it is unthinkable loss. I hope there is an investigation and it does not happen again when there is no appropriate help when it is needed.
I hope our guys who knew him will be ok, as it is tough one to swallow.
Пусть земля тебе будет пухом Лёша.

Same thing happened to my friend at the age of 17. Brain aneurysm while sitting on the bench. He got hit by a puck while drinking water between shifts and then collapsed and was later declared dead at the hospital. He had just been drafted by St-Jean in the Q. Sometimes, these things happen. Too bad. Too soon.

Thanks for bringing your expertise to what might have happened to this young athlete. It’s just horrible, horrible news and makes you think that all of us live on “borrowed” time. My thoughts go out to his family.

What a horrible incident? I have read that the ambulance had left and needed to be called back. There are also questions arising about the defibs on site. I think that defibs. should be required in arenas, gyms, schools, rec centers etc. and have annual checks to ensure they work.

If you catch it beforehand there are medical or surgical/procedural options. Regarding the latter, you can literally cut out some of the extra muscle that causes the obstruction just below the aortic valve in what’s called a “septal myomectomy” or some people have tried to ablate it using catheters and injecting materials to decrease the size. Patients often have a internal defibrillator +/- pacemaker placed to shock them should they go into cardiac arrest. They’re also place on medicines to decrease the contractility of the ventricle such as beta blockers. After diagnosed you are to avoid strenuous exercise for life.

In terms of exacerbation by collision, it usually just happens on its own when exercising hard. Cardiac arrest caused by blunt blows to the chest can happen to any heart; this one doesn’t need a precipitant.

Man, it’s always weird for me to realize (I’m 20) that NHL players are younger than me… but to have a guy like this actually die is really depressing. It’s also kind of ironic given that he dropped because teams assumed he might never come over to play in North America… and in the end, he didn’t. Unbelievably sad, anyway, for a kid that young to die, especially from a hockey game. I feel for his family…

thanks for the info Doug, its just goes to show despite how tough these guys are how delicate the human body is. Can any of this be exarcobated by a collision? Or can it just happen on its own? And is there any way to prevent this from happening in the future by diagnosis?

I am cautious to medicalize this when it doesn’t matter, but it was probably caused by a condition called idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS), a variant of hypertrophic cardiomypathy in which the wall of the septum separating the left and right ventricles is enlarged for reasons that are not known and can obstruct blood flow. It’s associated with sudden cardiac arrest, especially amongst athletes who tend to have more muscular hearts and can worsent the symptoms.

Those below who speculated that this was the same thing that Jiri Fischer was fortunate to survive were probably correct. Other notable athletes included Hank Gathers (an NCAA star projected to be a top caliber NBA player), Reggie Lewis (95% sure this is what he had, was star for the Boston Celtics), former Hab Sergei Zholtok, Kevin Duckworth (NBA), and Windsor Spitfires prospect Mickey Renaud. Almost always the cause of cardiac arrest in a young man.

What a terrible day, and again, I hesitated to write this because as per my post below his death is devastating and I didn’t want to come in here and play doctor, but thought some might be interested and chose to post.

Oh my God. . . this is horrifying. I remember as he sat with his family waiting to be drafted a couple of years ago when his stock inexplicably dropped. I was selfishly looking forward to seeing his dazzling talent in an NHL game in the next couple of years. . . and now this.

My heart goes out to his friends and his family. What a horrific tragedy. There goes my day. RIP Alexei: you died way, way, way too young.

That’s a completely disheartening story. Off the top of my head,(so I might not be right), this sounds eerily similar to what happened to that kid that played for the Windsor Spitfires, last year. My condolences to the Cherepanov family. No parent should have to bury their child.